The Columbus journal., 1887-12-21

the eneine-there was nothing to be gained
| by care in avoiding alarm any longer, for
| the distant whistle of the pursuer was
| heard-and we rIshed at the depot, which
| then stood right across the double track,
and passed with fearful speed under its
roof. Here knight got his most terrible
fright. The darting into the partial dark
ness of the shed was bad enough, but Just
g.; at the far end the main track bends sharply
to the left, and the swerve was SO sudden,
and the speed already so high, that Knight
believed he was rushing IN another side
track, and that in a moment would come
the awful crash. But instead the engine
instantly righted, and he again So tbs
track straight before him. But S o quickly
had we passed that VIC could not certainly
determine whether the people at the sta
ton had been warned or not!
A mile above Dalton, which was about
as sOon as the headlong rush Of the engine
could be checked, we stopped again, just
opposite to where Col. Jesse Glenh's regi-
ment of conscripts were encamped in a
field. Their position, which was within
200 OF 300 yards of us, was probably not
seen until we were close to them, and it
was better to take the risk of their inter-
| ference than to lose time by seeking an
other place for more pressing work.
Again the wire was cut; but it was a
second too late, for a message had just
been flashed through, no doubt even as
Scott was bringing it down. The usual
instructions were here piled On the track,
and we again essayed to take up a rail,
for the Chickamauga bridges were just
above, and we wanted time enough to get
them on fire, hoping that Fuller would
stop long enough ut Dalton for the pur-
pose of getting his telegram ready, to
allow us to finish the track lifting. No
men ever worked with more desperate en-
ergy, but all in vain; long before the rail
was loose the pursuers were again upon
us.
The race recommended with all its speed
and fury. The great tunnel was a short
distance ahead-a glorious place for an
ambush, where, in the darkness, the guns
of the enemy would be of little value. If
Andrews was disposed to fight, there
would be the place of all others to do it.
With the smoke Of our train filling the
space, with our party in ambush along
the sides, success would be comparatively
sure, If they had twice our number, for
of course we could not tell % much of
a Reinforcement they might pick up at
Dalton. But we kept right on through
the tunnel and the village of Tunnel Hill
beyond. where we carefully drew down to
conceal our number from the curious eyes
of any who might be about the station.
At Calhoun Fuller had received a small
but very effective re-enforcement-Only a
boy thirteen years old, but worth a dozen
of ordinary men-by means of II Of
those apparently small circumstance
which often influence the course of great
events. At Chattanooga the chief officers
of the road had become alarmed by re-
ceiving no dispatches from Atlanta, or
the stations below Kingston. They there
fore directed the young assistant operator
at Dalton to jump on the passenger train
Just then leaving that station and go
south, sending them back word at each
station passed till the cause of the trouble
was found. He had only got as fer as
Calhoun when Andrews passed, and Fuller
in a momen: after. The latter hardly
came to a stop before he saw the operator,
and called linn, and without a word OF
explanation seized his hand and dragged
him on the train. In the run up, how
ever, he MADE all the necessary explana-
lions, and wrote out the following dis
patch:
FULLER'S TELEGRAM.
ITO Gen. Leadbetter, commander at Chat
tanOoga:
"My train was captured this q. m. at
Big Shanty, evidently by Federal soldiers
in disguise. They are making rapidly for
Chattanooga, possibly with the idea Of
burning the railroad bridges in their rear.
II / do not capture them in the meantime,
see that they do not pass Chattanooga.
CIVILIAN A. FULLER"
This he gave to the operator, saying,
Don't speak to anybody or lose a second
till you put that through TO Chattanooga.
Jump for the platform when I slow up,
for I must push on and keep those
Yankees from getting up a rail or burning
the bridges"
1t was terribly quick work. The opera
tor was at home in the office, and almost
before Fuller had cleared the shed he was
at the desk and the first words were over
the wires. Whether they had time to get
the whole message over before the cut is
very doubtful, and not material, for the
first w lines would answer every pur-
pose. Had Fuller stopped at this point,
and himself went into the Office long
enough to set the operator at work, it is
almost certain we would have had the rail
up, and then all the bridges above that
pOAAlC "Ouiu OCCA u ICu, OAlOuSn i
is still possible that enough of the message
might have been pushed through to secure
our arrest in Chattanooga. This was
another striking instance Of the many
narrow margins IN which this day hinged.
As Fuller pressed on toward the great
tunnel, even his resOlute heart almost
died within him, while all his party began
to blame him for fOOlhardiness. He
feared to plunge into its dark depths. 1t
was still filled with smoke from our en-
CINE; and he we'll knew that if we jumped
of at the far end and hurled back our
locomotive at him, it meant a horrible
death to every n OH his train; and he
was by no means sure that We would not
do it. Mr.. Murphy, who had SO ably
stood by him all the while, here counseled
prudence, pointing out all the perils of
an ambush. But Fuller realized as ap-
parently no one else did the desperate
need of pressing On to v the road; and
he had made SO many escapes and been
SO marvelously favored, that a kind of
fatalism took hold Of him. He deter
mined not to lose a minute, no matter
what the danger might be. 1t may as
well be said here that no prudent and
common sense kind of pursuit, such as
possibly any other man would have en-
ployed, could have had the slightest
chance Of success. But even Fuller
quailed as they dived into the cloud of
smoke that hung around the entrance of
the tunnel, n held his breath for a few
seconds they We're still at full speed, till
he saw with a sigh Of relief a CLEAN of
light ahead and knew that there was no
other engine nOw in the tunnel. On he
pressed, for he knew the value of the
Chickamauga bridges ahead as well as
We did.
CHAPTER XII.
A BURNING CAR.
But for the wetness Of the day all his
efforts even yet would have been foiled.
We now did what had been in the mind
Of Andrews, doubtless, for some time
past-what he might have tried even at
the O~ostenaula bridge had not the inter-
val between that and Calhoun been so